Graceless
by cyaniic
Summary: Keith is in college and has no luck when it comes to love, but his heart skips a beat when Lance, the best musician he's ever come across, performs at his favorite café and immediately catches his eye. Keith knows he doesn't have the confidence to initiate a relationship with anybody, especially not this gorgeous stranger, but he'll have to if he doesn't want to lose him.
1. Encounter

It was like he was hit over the head with a rock.

Keith sat there, dazed, staring up at the makeshift stage set up in his favorite roadside coffee shop. More specifically, he was staring up at him. Whoever he was, strumming his guitar and tapping his foot along to the beat. Singing with the softest yet most intense voice that had ever graced Keith's ears. So much that he couldn't shift an inch in the spot that he was sitting in.

He had dark auburn hair, caramel skin, and the deepest blue eyes Keith had ever met with his own. He knew it was probably creepy to be staring for so long like he had been, but it was impossible with the looks and talent like his.

 _"Damn."_ Was all he thought on repeat. _"Damn."_ The song he was singing soon ended, and Keith finally came out of his trance, tuning in to the round of applause that fell over the crowd all around him. Keith clapped along too, giving a small smile with wide eyes.

"Thanks, everyone. That'll be all for today, but I'll be back next Wednesday, so come and see me again!" He spoke into the microphone and then began packing up his things from onstage. Keith began panicking. The last time he saw a guy this appealing was two summers ago, and even then he could barely look at him without feeling so nauseous that he almost threw up. He wasn't the best when it came to dating or relationships, so he tended to avoid awkward encounters.

But this was a different scenario. He couldn't just let this guy, this stunning guy, walk out the door, where he'd never see him again and leave Keith wishing he had introduced himself. Before he could think about it anymore, Keith stood up from the side table he was sitting at, almost knocking over his cappuccino, and sped over to the corner of the café where the performer was standing.

Keith didn't know how to begin the conversation. He didn't think he'd get to this stage in his so-called plan. Before he could say anything, the stranger turned around with his guitar case and jacket in hand, ready to greet him.

"Oh." was how it began. "Hey." Keith was frozen, he couldn't form a sentence when actually standing in front of him. "Uh…do you need something?" Was what woke him up.

"Shit, um, I-I'm sorry I just…" Keith looked down at his feet. "Your song…the one you just got done with, it was really good…"

"Oh yeah? You liked it? That was a new one, I didn't know what kind of reaction I'd get from it. But thanks!" There was a minute of silence. "Do you…come here a lot?"

"Uh, y-yeah. I've been coming here since I started college. It's close by so…" This was going a lot more smooth than Keith imagined it would.

"Same for me. I'm a college student too, actually." He held up his guitar. "Music major."

"I'm a Journalist. Well, I guess you could say that." Keith was in his first year of college, and was not adjusting that well. After a pause, he spoke up again. "Do you mind if I…get your name?"

 _"Oh god, what if he isn't into guys?"_ Keith felt his face heat up. _"What if I'm annoying him? What if he's really weirded out and I'm just making it-"_

"Sure thing. I'm Lance McClain. And you?" Lance smiled at him which made Keith even more uncomfortable. He didn't expect this confident, beautiful, and talented person to actually socialize with him, an average looking introvert.

"K-Keith Kogane. It was nice meeting you." He paused. "I'll…see you around. Next Wednesday, right…?"

"Yup. Every week." And with that, Lance gave Keith a grin and walked out the door. Keith walked back over to his table and sat down, burying his face in his hands while sighing deeply. He now made plans to come back every Wednesday, just to hear Lance play.

And that's exactly what he did. Of course he came in between Wednesdays, to study or pick up his usual order in the morning, but the middle of the week was a day he'd never forget to show up on. He came in and sat down at his favorite table at around 7:30 PM, got whatever drink or snack he was in the mood for, and then waited. Lance would come in and set up every week at 8:00, he noticed over the span of a couple days.

Keith would get anxious whenever Lance came into the room, watching him prepare to play for the café, listening to the melodies and gazing intently towards Lance in his position on stage, all while getting lost in his own thoughts. Which was an extreme emotional trip, of course, especially because he knew it would happen every week that he walked into the café. The same cold sweat, fidgety hands, sneaking looks, and overall dizzy feeling Keith would get.

He daydreamed about Lance, he hurt so bad simply because he wanted to get to know him better, but didn't want to be an annoyance at the same time. This was troubling Keith's mind so hard one Saturday night that he hardly noticed Katie, his college friend, come in and sit down across from him at his table.

"Uh, earth to Keith. You alive?" She spoke up, trying to get his attention.

"Mmm…yeah. Barely." Keith took a small sip of his latte. "Sorry I'm just…stressed out."

"Welcome to the club." Was all she replied with before whipping out her laptop from what seemed like nowhere. Katie looked like she hadn't slept in days. Scratch that, weeks. She was a Computer Engineering major, and was assigned essays on the daily. Keith didn't know how she survived honestly, but with the right amount of caffeine she seemed to manage.

"I need dating advice." Keith proposed out of the blue, not knowing any other way to bring up the topic.

"What makes you think I have any experience in that field?" She didn't look up from her computer screen when giving her reply.

"Well…I don't know. You're my friend and I though, maybe, you could help me." He looked over at her as she sighed and slowly closed her laptop.

"Fine. But don't hold it against me if I'm no fucking help. Who's the guy?"

"How do you know it's a guy?"

"Oh please Keith, all you _ever_ gush on and on about when we watch the Avengers is how stunning Chris Hemsworth is. Plus don't think I don't notice how starry-eyed you get when there's someone remotely good looking within five feet of-"

"Okay, okay. I get it. And yes, it's a guy."

"So…tell me about him."

"Here. I have pictures." Keith reached into the pocket of his hoodie pulling out his phone to search through his camera roll.

"You took _pictures_ of him? Secretly? Wow that's a new one."

"Shut it." Was all Keith retorted with as he turned his phone screen towards Katie, showing her a picture he snuck of Lance as he was performing.

"Hmm…" She squinted at the picture for a moment. "He looks dorky. Perfect for someone like you." Katie gave her honest opinion even if it offended Keith slightly, which is what he liked about her. "So he's a musician?"

"Yup." Keith turned his phone back towards him and gazed down at the picture for the hundredth time today. "He's a musician, a super fucking talented one, too. And he's in college like us. I wonder…" Keith kept rambling on, eventually mumbling to where Katie couldn't hear him.

"Hey, speak up I can barely…" She paused and looked away from where they were seated and over towards the café entrance. There, she saw him. Lance was standing outside of the café with a smile plastered across his face, just like in the picture of him that she saw only a few seconds ago. Katie's eyes widened and she frantically tried to get Keith's attention.

"Keith." She said sternly through gritted teeth. "Look!" She furiously tapped his arm, which earned a confused face from him. "Look look look!" Keith looked around the café, clueless, until he finally spotted him. His breath hitched and he turned away, unable to look at him.

"This is perfect! Keith, you have to ask him out!" Her eyes sparkled but she continued to whisper. Keith didn't understand why she was so ecstatic over his personal relationship issues, but he smiled anyways. Keith attempted to look as normal as possible before Lance walked in, which was a wasted effort.

She now grinned slyly at him, noticing how flustered he had become. They both watched as Lance opened the door and walked in.

But what surprised them, especially Keith, was that he came in with somebody else.

A guy. An _attractive_ guy. They came in together, sat down together, and laughed together.

 _"Like a couple."_ Keith thought.

Katie's smile faded as it turned into something between sympathy and anger. She looked at Keith, who wasn't better off. His face was void of emotion.

"Keith…?" She wasn't given a response, only a sorrowful gaze before he stood up abruptly. "Keith, no, just wait a sec-" She wasn't able to finish before Keith put his hood up and sped towards the door.

He looked back into the café once more, at Katie's worried face and at Lance and his partner, before turning and walking down the sidewalk in the direction of his apartment.


	2. Greif

Was it always going to be like this? Keith always seemed to either fuck up any relationship he'd somehow managed to get into or not have any sort of chance to begin with.

Or, in cases like these, the person of his interest is out of reach.

At least Keith knew that he wasn't straight. _"That's a start."_ he thought. But it didn't help anything after all. On his trek back to his lonely apartment, he had to repress the huge urge to cry in public. He saved that for when he got home.

He knew how to deal with these sort of things. There was lame music, helpless moping around, and a lot of junk food. Katie called it Keith's "Extra Special Coping Mechanism" in which he locked himself up in his apartment for so long that he forgot about all of his problems. She had only witnessed it twice, but she wasn't ready to let him deal with this one on his own.

"Keith, come on. Please let me in." She knocked on his door for the 100th time, but with no results. After seeing him storm out of the café, she gathered her things and took after him as soon as she could. "Look let's just talk about it for once. I'll-" Katie reached for her wallet and flipped through what little money she had. "I'll buy you whatever you want from Eileen's, okay?"

She heard a faint voice from the other side of the door. "There's a key in the lamp."

"What? A key in the…" Katie set down her laptop on the ground and reached up as far as her short arms could to the small lamp next to the door. She took out the key and unlocked the door then picked up her laptop and rushed inside. There was a lump of blankets on Keith's sofa, but on closer inspection it _was_ Keith, shriveled up, red-faced, and in nothing but his boxers and Pirate's of the Caribbean t-shirt.

He sniffled, tried to sort out his tangled hair, and looked up at Katie who was towering disapprovingly over him. "Hey." was all he managed to say.

 _"Hey."_ Katie replied mockingly. "Get up." She tried tugging at his blankets but all he did was pull back.

"No, come on Katie just let me-"

"Nope. Come on, we need to get you in better shape."

"Like…exercise?"

"No, dumbass. You always drag your ass when some guy isn't available or into you in the slightest. It was concerning at first but now I can't stand to see you like this. So, I'm calling Allura and Hunk and we're going out." Keith knew she was serious when Katie cursed like a sailor, so he slowly took the blankets off of himself and sat miserably in front of her.

"Can I go take a shower first…?"

"No. We're leaving as soon as possible before you look any more like a literal rotting corpse. Now put some pants on and let's go."

"Fine." Keith complied dryly. He stood up, attempted to make himself seem slightly more presentable, and was dragged out by Katie to meet up with Hunk and Allura at their favorite late night arcade by Katie's house. She figured that going there would take his mind off of Lance and would get Hunk and Allura to help too.

"Hey guys!" Hunk waved Keith and Katie over to where they stood at the entrance to the arcade. The two walked over to greet them as they all walked inside together. Keith stood back and watched before Katie noticed, scowled, and raced back to him.

"Come on, they already paid for a few hours for us. Have some fun and try not to think about it." Katie put her hand on Keith's shoulder before returning to challenge Hunk at some racing game. Keith stood and stared at all of the ancient arcade games around him. Maybe Katie was right. Maybe he should just get it off of his mind with something that made him happy.

He stepped over to the Pac-man machine and pressed start, which initiated the classic intro music. Keith grinned and began playing until his mind was only occupied with thoughts of winning. After who knows how many minutes, Keith ran out of lives. But, to his surprise, the leader board shone brightly in front of his face and asked his to input his initials into the first place spot.

"Wow you set the new high score, Keith!" Allura's voice boomed from behind Keith as he whipped his head around, startled by her sudden presence.

"Oh, uh…yeah. I guess I did." Keith looked back at the screen and punched in the letters _KK_ into the leader board.

"Pretty impressive. But, I won't accept it. Come here." Allura grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the air hockey table. "You may be good at the digital games, but air hockey is the ultimate game for the best of the best. Let's go." They both got into position, Keith complying with her challenge, and began a heated battle. Allura was fast, even with Keith trying his very best, which ended in her victory.

"Oh, would you look at that." She boasted while pointing up to the bright red "WINNER!" flashing across the screens. "I seem to have beat you."

Keith scoffed and crossed his arms. "Sure, whatever. Air hockey isn't even a real arcade game. I see one at every shitty pizza place I come across."

"You're just a sore loser." Allura's smile never faded as she walked over to Keith and lead him to the front of the building where the snacks were. "I'm gonna get some nachos or something for all of us. Go call over the others to come and sit down, would you?"

"Sure thing." Keith turned and walked around the arcade floor, searching for Katie and Hunk, before he found them huddled in front of the Q-bert machine.

"No, no, no. Look, _this_ path is the one that let's you escape, see?"

Keith spoke up softly. "Hey, guys."

"But I already tried that one, Katie!"

"I've beat this one before! I know what I'm talking about, Hunk!"

"Uh…guys?"

"Why don't you let me, the one with the controls, choose, huh?"

"I'm _trying_ to hel-"

"Guys!" Keith grabbed both of their shoulders which halted their argument and caused them to turn towards him. The faint sound of the "You Died" music emitted from the machine as Keith dropped his hands to his sides and spoke up. "Allura bought nachos. Let's go eat."

"Oh…okay. Sorry, Keith." Hunk stepped away from the machine first, followed by Katie, and they both followed him to a booth near the entrance where Allura was already sitting. They all ate and talked together about various things like school and hobbies, the typical "friend" conversations. Keith realized that throughout the night, not one image or thought of Lance passed through his mind. Katie was always right in these situations, not that he had ever doubted her.

Keith realized, after far too long, that he had been staring into nothing which worried Hunk.

"Hey, Keith, you good?" He waved his hand in front of Keith's face to try and get his attention.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry." He reached over to the community-nacho-bowl and grabbed a chip. "What were we talking about..?"

"Well," Katie began informing him on the conversation he missed out on, "Allura was gushing on and on about how simply _amazing_ her and Shiro are going along."

"Hey! You'd be "gushing" too if you had a boyfriend, Katie."

"You and I both know I'll be dating my computer forever. What about you, Hunk? Are you and that Shay girl a thing yet?" She gently nudged him with her elbow before cramming another nacho into her already full mouth.

"I-I told you! It's not like that, Katie!" He was visibly uncomfortable at her statement.

"And what about Keith?" Allura's mentioning of his name made Keith jump slightly in surprise and he met her gaze with wide eyes. "Have you found a nice guy?"

It was silent. Katie looked away, knowing fully well what this would lead to. Hunk tilted his head curiously, also wanting to know about Keith's relationship, or lack thereof in his case. He didn't know whether to share the truth with them, embarrass himself, and feel down for the rest of the night or lie through his teeth and pretend he was doing fine. He was sure just mentioning Lance's name would make him emotional.

When Keith clearly wasn't going to speak up any time soon, Katie took action herself.

"Keith is-" Everyone's eyes moved onto her. "Um, Keith is…waiting to get into a relationship right now. He's focusing on his writing instead. Right, Keith?" She gazed over at him with hopeful eyes, assuming he'd catch on immediately.

All he could do was look down and reply dryly, "Yeah. That's right." It took all he had not to walk away right then and there, having lied to them and got himself thinking about his unfortunate situation for the 50th time today. Why did everything have to be so unfair when it came to things like this?

"Well, I'm glad you're focusing on something at least!" Allura laughed and kept chatting. "But don't worry, I'm sure some prince charming will come your way soon, so chin up!" She patted his shoulder while smiling brightly.

 _"Prince charming, huh?"_ Keith thought. She was right in that area, at least. That's how anybody who set eyes on Lance would describe him. Prince charming.

 _"I sure hope so."_


End file.
